Authors, Illustrators & Poets
Authors, Illustrators & Poets
Authorfy - Click above for Author videos, online masterclasses, chapter readings, writing challenges, book extracts and cross-curricular schemes of work to use in the classroom or home. Sign up for a free account. Check their Authorfy Classroom and Authorfy Creative sections of the website.
- 10 Minute Challenge: creativity and fun every day with the 10 Minutes Challenges. Set by bestselling authors and illustrators. Updated every day. Including Cressida Cowell, Abi Elphinstone, MG Leonard, David Baddiel and more authors and illustrators.
- Downloadable activity packs, including The Wizards of Once, Nevermoor, Mr Penguin, Pirate Stew, Giraffes Can’t Dance, Claude, the King Who Banned the Dark, A Pinch of Magic, Fing and many more.
- Note that there is a fee payable to use these excellent resources.
Booktrust - Fun at Home with Authors and Illustrators
*THE* Place to go for updated activities. Lots of fun booky activities – watch and listen to a book/story, watch and join in with illustrators, get writing and drawing tips and so much more.
The Big List of Children’s Authors Doing Read-Alouds and Activities
Mainly American based but some UK in there.
A.F. Harrold Click above for his website containing poetry videos, podcasts and books, and information and previews of his other books.
Abi Elphinstone Videos, Q&A, shemes of work, book trailers, teacher’s resources, top 10 desert island reads, Dreamsnatcher playlist, biography, meet the characters.
Andy Seed Links to fun activities and teacher’s resources from Andy’s non-fiction books and poems.
The Boy Who Drew Dragons series. Fun freebies and activity pack, posters, discussion.
Andy Stanton- Click above for Andy's wacky website.
- Andy reads Mr Gum and the Biscuit Billionaire on YouTube.
- A podcast with Andy and Carrie Quinlan answering children’s questions in the most inaccurate ways they can think of. 18 funny episodes to listen to.
Axel SchefflerThe Gruffalo illustrator Axel’s website contains biography, the books, colouring, illustrations and what he’s up to.
Chitra Soundar Writing exercises, trailers, writing tips, colouring, poetry, cool facts, meet the illustrators, recipes, quizzes, puzzles, recommendations.
Chris Bradford ‘Young Samurai: The Way of Fire’ chapter readings on YouTube.
Downloads, activities, books, illustrations and more fun stuff from picture book illustrator Chris.
Chris Riddell
Chris reads from his and Paul Stewart’s book Hugo Pepper on Facebook. Also find them all on his YouTube channel, Morning Mouse.
Cressida Cowell
Dav PilkeyAuthor & illustrator of the various series Dog Man, Captain Underpants, Ook and Gluk and Ricky Ricotta. Books, biography, book trailers, how to draw like Dav, videos, colouring and other fun stuff.
David O’Connell Monster and Chips author. Activities include comics and drawing, colouring, dundoodle activities.
Ed Vere Check Ed's website for 'how to draw' videos. Author and illustrator of Mr Big, How to Be a Lion and many more titles.
Emma CarrollAuthor of Letters from the Lighthouse, Frost Hollow Hall and others. Biography, books, blog, activities and teacher’s notes on her website.
The Etherington Brothers- Join Robin and Lorenzo Etherington, British comic, book and film creators who work together as The Etherington Brothers. They created Von Doogan puzzle adventures for The Phoenix. Their clients include Disney, DreamWorks, Aardman, and the BBC. They have also worked on Star Wars, Transformers, Kung Fu Panda and How to Train Your Dragon
- Read some chapters from their comics and books
- 300 free How to Think When You Draw tutorials
- Free 50-page course on How to Make Comics, drawing lessons, puzzles, brain-teasers, lesson plans and much more (on Twitter).
The Federation of Children's Book Groups
Check here for a great list of author's and illustrator's websites.
Football School series- Check their website (click above) for books, activities, gallery, videos, events, biography and more.
- Join Alex Bellos and Ben Lyttleton on YouTube for Football School, plus lots of other fab football fun facts on their channel.
Author of Knights and Bikes and Alfie Bloom series. Book information, resources, biography, downloads.
Guy reads Stitch Head, plus Skeleton Keys activities and more great bits on his website.
J.K. Rowling- About J.K. Rowling, discussion guides, the books, fun stuff.
- Harry Potter At Home hub - Wizarding World presents a free online collection of child-friendly activities, videos, puzzles, illustrations, quizzes, creative ideas, articles, audio book of Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone and much more, that will help you bring the magic of the wizarding world into your home at this difficult time – as well as keep you all occupied for hours on end! Discover your Hogwarts house!
James Mayhew- Click on his name above to enter James's website.
- James tells stories his YouTube channel.
Jarrett Lerner Finish the comic, blank comic book pages, drawing/writing prompts, make your own character, name the gadget and decide what it’s buttons do – loads of fun drawing, writing and imaginative activities.
Author of the fabulous The Land of Roar series. Make your own fantasy world ideas.
Jim FieldJoin Jim as he draws Oi! Frog! and other delights. Picture books aren't just for small children, so join in!
John Dougherty John reads The Health & Safety Pirates on his YouTube channel.
Jonathan Emmett Click above for Jonathan's website for: activities, biography, booklist, games and activities, illustrations, pop-up books, book trailers and more.
Joseph Coelho Joseph reads out some of his poems and stories and gives writing tips and advice. Watch interviews with him and download resources from his website.
Julia DonaldsonJulia’s website contains masses of information, including biography, picture books, early fiction, fiction, poems, songs, plays, Songbirds Phonics, educational books, big books, audio, musicals. Phew! Also watch and listen to stories on Facebook and learn how to draw some characters.
Kieran Larwood The wonderful ‘Podkin One Ear’ downloadable resources and activities, including colouring, map drawing, making fox paw dice, writing prompts and more.
Kwame Alexander (Years 5 & 6)
- Click here to enter Kwame's website.
- Free Writing, Reading, and Learning Resources here for children (and their teachers/parents!). Be inspired through poetry and literature with powerful insight from award-winning author Kwame Alexander and some of his friends. These short videos and quick lessons offer a practical and fun way to teach (and learn) at home.
Lisa ThompsonJoin the author of The Goldfish Boy, The Light Jar, The Boy Who Fooled the World and Owen and the Soldier on her website. Biography, blog, books, teaching notes and more.
Liz Brownlee - Poetry Roundabout
Poetry, news, resources, interviews with best children’s poets, tips on how to write poems, fun activities, poetry reviews, A-Z list of children’s poets.
Liz PichonFor all Tom Gates fans. Biography, books, news, free activities, events, music, fun stuff, doodles, colouring, make and do. Great Tom Gates rainbow poster to colour in.
Author of Betsey Biggalow, Fangs, Cloud Busting, Pig Heart Boy, Thief and many more books.
Matt Brown - Click on Matt's name above for his website where you'll find the books, biography, podcasts.
- Also on Facebook (MattBrownWriter). and he has a fab podcast - click here.
Maz Evans For fans of the excellent series Who Let the Gods Out. Plenty of information and resources.
Almost everything you could ever want to know about the master storyteller.
Michael Rosen- Excellent website. Large number of video masterclasses on how to write, with Francesca Simon (Horrid Henry). Videos of Michael reading his poems and stories. Biography.
- Michael’s fantastic official Youtube channel, with him reading and acting out his poems and stories. Free to subscribe and just superb!
Mo Willems- Mo's website here. Peek into the mind of an author (Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus! etc. Website includes fun and games, info about Mo, interviews, videos.
- Around the world, people of all ages have joined Mo in his studio for weekday LUNCH DOODLES. The three-week run, all 15 episodes and their downloadable activities, are archived below.
Neal Zetter Author information, poems and trailers. Also watch Neal perform his poetry on his YouTube channel.
Neil Gaiman Mouse Circus, the official website for younger readers. Watch the latest Neil Gaiman videos and see Neil (and some famous friends!) read fantastic The Graveyard Book and Coraline (both Years 5 & 6 recommended) in their entirety. Trailers, Meet Neil Gaiman, the books, illustrators, games and activities.
Nicola is a writer who loves animals, nature and the environment. Find some truly inspiring books and information about them on her website.
Oliver Jeffers Oliver’s books and illustrations can be found here on his website. Here We Are, A Child of Books, The Day the Crayons Quit and more fabulous titles.
P.G. Bell Book excerpts, letter writing tips, activity sheets and teaching notes from the author of The Train to Impossible Places series.
Paul Cookson Click here for Paul's fab website, including his biography, the books, poems, audio, videos, free resources for children, teachers and parents.
Peter BunzlAuthor of the wonderful Cogheart series. Books, videos and activities (build Malkin out of Lego!)
Piers Torday- Piers' website here , with extracts, interviews, trailers.
- Click here for teacher's resources for The Last Wild.
Philip Ardagh Check out Philip Ardagh’s Books & Things on his Youtube channel. Lots of quirky videos and readalongs.
Quentin BlakeWonderful illustrator for most of the Roald Dahl books. Watch videos of Quentin drawing, tips on drawing, fun stuff, biography and more on his website.
R.J. PalacioFor author's website, click here. Author interviews, Q&A, the books and film, teacher's resources.
Rachel Ignotofsky The author of Women in Science and other similar great titles has some fabulous colouring pages, posters, wallpapers and puzzles on her website.
Rick Riordan Loves Greek & Egyptian mythology? You'll love Rick Riordan! Teacher’s guides, discussion notes and other information for Percy Jackson and other Riordan books.
Roald Dahl Quizzes, biographical information, Dahl’s writing tips, revolting recipes, teacher’s notes more.
Rob Biddulph Draw with Rob plus lots more fun activities and information on Rob's website here.
Robin StevensBooks include Murder Most Unladylike series, Deepdean Mini Mysteries, The Guggenheim Mystery. The Detective Society’s Top-Secret Files resources. Create your own murder mystery, design a Murder Most Unladylike book cover and more.
Ross Montgomery Author of the magical The Nowhere Emporium series, Ross' website contains lesson plans, posters, blogs about writing, videos of the author reading extracts from his books.
SF SaidThe author of the amazing Varjak Paw and Phoenix website here.
Sarah McIntyre - For Sarah's website, click on her name above. Fun activities and information about her books, comics and illustrations.
- On YouTube, meet the writer and illustrator of Grumpycorn, get a taste of the book, learn how to draw Unicorn step by step and discover how to let your drawing inspire a whole new story.
Scholastic Book Club Authors & Illustrators
Click here for a great range of wonderful authors and illustrators - which one will you read about?
Sean C Jackson Author of the book From Here to There: a book of mazes to wander and explore. Downloadable and printable fun mazes to complete.
Steven Lenton- Click on Steven's name above for his website. Illustrator of The Nothing to See Here Hotel, Cruella, David Baddiel books, Shifty McGifty and Slippery Sam, etc.
- Join Steven for some great Drawalong videos on YouTube.
Swapna HaddowHumorous Dave Pigeon fun stuff and activities.
Tom Palmer- Loads of great information and videos about Tom's books (lots of footie and rugby ones in there!) - click above.
- Also free powerpoints, photocopiable resources and first chapter extracts for all Tom's books to support children, schools and libraries in class and home work and encourage reading and writing for pleasure - click here.
Vashti Hardy Maps, posters and loads of activities from the author of Brightstorm.